Tuesday, May 18, 2010

GUARD! SILENCE HIM!

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett had an awkward encounter at his campaign stop in the Lehigh Valley yesterday.

According to the blog "Repatriot Radio," Corbett exploded at a man who asked about the federal lawsuit Corbett finds himself currently embroiled, specifically a possible federal investigation into the activities surrounding Corbett's Financial Enforcement Section:

"Anyway I asked the question Mr Corbett if you win tomorrow how will you handle your campaign and your subsequent Federal trial for alleged fraud in the Attorney Generals office. Tom Corbett got so irate he came off the platform through the crowd and confronted me to my face on the issue. All he said was that the info I was referring to was fraudulent and put out by the Sam Rohrer campaign. He shook his finger in my face and told me to go back to Sam and get my facts straight."(Repatriot Radio 5/17/10)

This isn't surprising. Corbett is known for his short temper. However, it is troubling to hear that Corbett's taxpayer funded security detail attempted to remove the questioner:

"I went there as a private citizen to ask a legitimate question as well as others but I could only ask the one before I was directed to leave. Tom’s state paid body guard/chauffeur the black guy [in the picture] tried to move me out but I would not budge. He actually tried to push me out but when he touched me he could not budge me so I stood there peacefully then he walked to the side when Tom came over to me. You will notice Tom also tried to usher me out with his hand on my left arm."

Taxpayer funded security is there to protect Corbett from physical harm, not harm to his campaign.

It is interesting to note that in public Corbett is adamant that there is no federal investigation...period. Yet in an unprecedented (Corbett has only been deposed once in his long legal career) six hour deposition, he isn't quite as vehement:

Attorney for Kimmett: Mr. Corbett, were you ever, did you ever learn sometime in or after June of 2008 that Mr. Kimmett had approached the US Attorney’s Office with what he felt were systemic problems in FES [Financial Enforcement Section]?

Corbett: I learned, I think there was a question in the interrogatories to that effect. Is that right?

Attorney for Kimmett: I’m not sure there is.

Corbett: Somewhere along the line in preparation I’ve heard that.

Attorney for Kimmett: Okay.

Corbett: Did I hear about it in 2008? No.

Attorney for Corbett: When you say in preparation, you mean

Corbett: For today.

Attorney for Corbett: For your deposition.

Attorney for Kimmett: Do you know if at any point you or anyone in OAG has been contacted by anyone at the FBI relating to allegations or complaints made by Mr. Kimmett?

Corbett: To my knowledge nobody in the office has been contacted by FBI to my knowledge and I certainly haven’t.

Attorney for Kimmett: Have you ever had occasion to work with in any capacity an FBI agent named Timothy Lynch?

Something is amiss at the FES. Something serious enough to warrant Corbett being forced to spend six hours being deposed. Something serious enough that the FBI and an agent Timothy Lynch are asking questions.

Corbett not only doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't even want questions asked. It is disturbing to learn Corbett has enlisted his taxpayer funded security guard to shut down the debate.

Brett Cott may be sentence on Friday, he should be given probation and nothing more.

The OAG Prosecutors are asking for a stiff sentence based on past information Brett never was convicted on whatsoever.

Fumo guilty of 137 Counts was given 4 months, Cott does not deserve any Jail Time and it will be a grave miscarriage of justice if he is given any prison time on such shoddy charges barely held accountable after 322 charges were dismissed or found not guilty.

I admire Brett Cott for his passion, determination, and eagerness to serve the citizens, public, and candidates, and he is a victim of a witch hunt for campaign purposes, nothing more!

About two dozen posters on a political group blog addressed to political issues in New York City made comments critical of public officials in Bronx County, New York.

The Bronx District Attorney served a grand jury subpoena on the bloggers seeking to identify the posters, and threatened the bloggers with criminal prosecution if they informed anybody – including the posters whose identities were sought by the grand jury subpoena – of the existence of the subpoena.

Represented by Public Citizen, the bloggers moved in the Supreme Court of Bronx County New York to quash the subpoena because it threatened the First Amendment right of the blog posters to speak anonymously, and threatened to file suit in federal court on the ground that the the threat of prosecution violated the bloggers’ right to criticize the District Attorney.

In response, the District Attorney withdrew both the subpoena and the threat of prosecution for revealing the subpoena.

The adamant refusal of Attorney General Corbett or his staff to provide any cogent orspecific information about the crimes being investigated and how they relate to the specificanonymous Internet speakers at issue in this case, given the superficial impression created by the posts, which represent nothing other than criticism of public officials, only reinforces the need to demand a compelling justification for the subpoena.

These posts are plainly politicalspeech, and they do not violate any criminal law.

Absent a detailed justification for Attorney General Corbett subpoenas, this subpoenas should be removed or quash by a Judge.